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Monday, November 19, 2012

Report: Obama Was Briefed on Benghazi Terrorism Connection Days Before Susan Rice's Public Denials

Just last week, the president adamantly defended
his Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, who is widely rumored
to be a leading contender to replace Hillary Clinton at State. Rice
appeared on all five Sunday morning shows on September 16, five days
after the deadly 9/11 attacks. She advanced three core assertions for
public consumption:

(1) The the violence had spilled over from "spontaneous" protests over an internet video. (There were no protests outside of the Benghazi consulate leading up to the attack). (2) The US government "had no information" indicating that the assault was "pre-meditated or preplanned. (There were, in fact, many signs pointing to that conclusion, even before the raid began). (3) Our security presence at our diplomatic mission in Benghazi was "substantial."
(The fact that the consulate was sacked -- and four Americans,
including a sitting ambassador, were murdered in the process -- is clear
evidence that our security measures was unforgivably and demonstrably insubstantial.
To try to say otherwise is outright insulting. To say nothing of the
various subsequent revelations that Amb. Stevens and his team begged for
more security on numerous occasions, but were denied. The State
Department actually reduced
its American security presence in the country; this, in spite of
glaring warning signs that our interests were far from protected.

Obama's primary defense of Rice was that she simply articulated the talking points she was provided "at the request of the White House:"

“As I said before, she made an appearance at the request of
the White House in which she gave her best understanding of the
intelligence that had been provided to her,” Obama said at the press conference, defending the statements the ambassador to the U.N. made regarding the Benghazi attack.

He also famously urged Republican critics to "go after" him, and lay off Rice. Big, strong tough guy
that he is, and all that. Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified
under oath last week that the US intelligence community knew "almost immediately"
that the Benghazi ambush was the handiwork of a terrorist network,
suggesting that the talking points Rice disseminated on television were
crafted to drive a narrative other than the facts. (Remember, Obama has
taken faux umbrage at the mere suggestion that any information was withheld from the public at any stage). Over the weekend, a journalist at the Washington Guardian (and formerly of the Associated Press and Washington Post) revealed that President Obama was personally and specifically briefed within three days that the massacre was an organized jihadist operation:

U.S. intelligence told President Barack Obama and senior administration officials within
72 hours of the Benghazi tragedy that the attack was likely carried out
by local militia and other armed extremists sympathetic to al-Qaida in
the region, officials directly familiar with the information
told the Washington Guardian on Friday. Based on electronic intercepts
and human intelligence on the ground, the early briefings after the
deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya identified
possible organizers and participants. Most were believed to be from a
local Libyan militia group called Ansar al-Sharia that is sympathetic to
al-Qaida, the official said, while a handful of others was linked to a
direct al-Qaida affiliate in North Africa known as AQIM. Those briefings
also raised the possibility that the attackers may have been inspired
both by spontaneous protests across the globe on the 11th anniversary of
the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and by a desire to seek vengeance for the
U.S. killing last summer of a Libyan-born leader of al-Qaida named Abu
Yaya al-Libi, the officials said, speaking only on condition of
anonymity because they were discussing intelligence matters.

The report, which cites numerous US intelligence officials, alleges
that the script provided to Rice was watered down, with references to Al
Qaeda "edited or excluded:"

Rice's performance on the Sunday talk shows has become a source of
controversy between Congress and the White House. Lawmakers,
particularly Republicans, have questioned whether the administration was
trying to mislead the country by suggesting the Benghazi attack was
like the spontaneous protests that had occurred elsewhere on Sept. 11,
in places like Egypt. Obama has defended Rice, and he and his top aides
have insisted politics was not involved. They argue the
administration's shifting story was the result of changing intelligence.
U.S. intelligence officials said Friday, however, the assessment that
the tragedy was an attack by extremists with al-Qaida links was well
defined within 48 to 72 hours.

So just in case there was any lingering doubt about if and when
President Obama was made aware of the truth, now we know. Of course,
one would imagine that if (a) if our people in Benghazi were urgently warning of an imminent organized assault several hours before it occurred, and (b) if people inside the White House watched the raid unfold in real time over a video feed for seven hours, and (c) if there were reports of an Al Qaeda affiliate claiming credit for the attack within two hours,
the president probably would have been informed about the terrorism
intel far sooner than 72 hours later -- even if he did sleep through the
attack itself, during which our besieged personnel were pleading for back-up that never came.

All that aside, Susan Rice wasn't merely allowed to appear on
television with faulty talking points, she was specifically given a
bowdlerized version of events to share with the public. Also, Obama
himself was still hemming and hawing about whether Benghazi was a terrorist attack during his appearance on The View -- two weeks later. Why? Obama's
defenders will simultaneously claim that all of this will be covered in
the "ongoing investigation," while insisting that it had absolutely nothing to do with politics. Senator McCain doesn't believe
that for a second, and neither should you. The White House would have
us believe that we just couldn't be told basic truths about the nature
of the attack....because of "national security," or something. This is
an entirely insufficient explanation that strains credulity, to put
things politely. If this administration was so concerned about national
security why were our ambassador's requests related to his own personal safety disregarded? And why was our bombed-out consulate left unattended and unsecured for weeks (update: months)
after the attack, allowing random journalists and God knows who else to
sift through the sensitive documents that were strewn throughout the
compound? I'll leave you with liberal columnist Dana Milbank making the
case against Susan Rice for Secretary of State:

Even in a town that rewards sharp elbows and brusque personalities,
Rice has managed to make an impressive array of enemies — on Capitol
Hill, in Foggy Bottom and abroad. Particularly in comparison with the
other person often mentioned for the job, Sen. John Kerry, she can be a
most undiplomatic diplomat, and there likely aren’t enough Republican or
Democratic votes in the Senate to confirm her. Back when she was an
assistant secretary of state during the Clinton administration, she
appalled colleagues by flipping her middle finger at Richard Holbrooke
during a meeting with senior staff at the State Department, according to
witnesses. Colleagues talk of shouting matches and insults...
It’s true that, in her much-criticized TV performance, she was
reciting talking points given to her by the intelligence agencies. But
that’s the trouble. Rice stuck with her points even though they had been
contradicted by the president of the Libyan National Assembly, who, on
CBS’s “Face the Nation” just before Rice, said there was “no doubt” that
the attack on Americans in Benghazi “was preplanned.” Rice rebutted the
Libyan official, arguing — falsely, it turned out — that there was no
evidence of such planning. True, Rice was following orders from the
White House, which she does well. But the nation’s top diplomat needs to
show more sensitivity and independence — traits Clinton has
demonstrated in abundance. Obama can do better at State than Susan Rice.